Free Online Resume Builder

Crafting A Stellar Career Summary For Your Resume

Are you a career changer?  Or, are you satisfied with your stable career but interested in updating your resume?  Are you a professional who has tried different things but are still searching for the kind of work that best suits you?  Whatever your career situation, what your resume most needs is a stellar career summary.

What difference can a career summary make for you?  Here are  4 reasons why you need one in your resume:

1.) A career summary communicates more about you and does so more powerfully than an objective statement.

2.) Employers love career summaries and use them to preview your resume.  If they like your summary, they're more likely to read your whole resume.

3.) A summary does a superlative job of masking weaknesses in your work history (too much experience, too little, too many different kinds of jobs, gaps in employment, ineffectual titles, and everything else you can think of)

4.) A career summary tells the employer what you most want them to know, up front.  It therefore sells you well and sets you up to be asked the kinds of interview questions you really want to be asked.

All right, so a career summary is a good thing.  What does it look like?  A summary can be a short paragraph of 2-4 sentences or a brief phrase or sentence introducing a series of 4-8 bullets, depending on the communications style you prefer.  It can be preceded by a job title or list of specialty areas that you wish to highlight.  The summary always goes at the top of the resume immediately following your name and contact information.

Generally a good career summary will profile some mixture of the following kinds of critical details:

• A brief overview of the breadth and scope of your experience
• Academic credentials, if relevant
• 3-5 skillsets that set you apart from the competition
• 3-5 personality characteristics that describe the workplace you
• Hints about your most important work-related values. 

Okay, so all that sounds good, but what does a career summary look like?  Here are two different versions of a summary that you can play with and make your own:

Career and Workforce Development Administrator

Coaching ... Training & Development ... Program Design

Seasoned, articulate and visionary professional with over 19 years' experience in all facets of career and workforce development in both corporate and social service settings.  Possess outstanding verbal, written and interpersonal communications skills and an inherent ability to build effective and cohesive teams.  Deeply value creativity and lifelong learning.

Seasoned, articulate and visionary professional with over 19 years' proven experience in:

• Career Development
• Workforce Development
• Corporate Consulting
• Social Service Delivery
• Team Building
• Program Design
• Lifelong Learning
• Communications 

The key is to begin by brainstorming solid content.  Choose your descriptive language carefully.  Make every word count.  Create content first; write a draft second.  Then share your draft with others you trust before finalizing it for your resume. 

Cheryl Lynch Simpson is a Spiritual Director and Solutions Coach who helps women discover and create the life they've always wanted to live.  Cheryl is the author of over 30 print/Internet articles and the founder of Coaching Solutions For Women, a coaching website that produces and showcases career, business, and life solutions that improve the life balance of today's busy women.  For a complimentary copy of her latest e-book, Ten-Minute Stress Zappers for Women Service Business Owners, visit http://www.coachingsolutionsforwomen.com.

MORE ARTICLES:

MilitaryResumes.com Resume Writers for Military Resumes and Federal Resumes Announces Sponsorship and Event Participation
The company, which delivers civilian resumes (www.militaryresumes.com) for ex-military, sponsored the 8th Annual Allen Stone Memorial Run in Virginia Beach, VA.

Free Resume Examples ? Use Free Resume Examples to Create a Resume in Record Time!
Today, the job market is more competitive than ever, so much so that a recruiter usually has a hard time going through a larger number of applicants and their resumes Not all of the hundreds who apply will even make it through the initial part and their resumes will hit the trash can right away

How To Write A Resume, Avoid These Resume Mistakes
HOW TO WRITE A RESUME-MISTAKE #1NEVER USE THE WRONG PAPER! What kind of paper should you choose when typing your resume? The color of paper you will want to use will be white or ivory. You will also want to type your resume on a heavier paper, such as a 20 lb.

How To Write A Resume  Using Your Resume to Secure Your Dream Job
Most of us have the misconception that our curriculum vitae or resume is just a simple document that lists our educational/work background and contact information. However, if you really want to land the job of your dreams, you must learn how to write a resume professionally.

Resumes - Fixing the Bad Resume
Writing up your resume is a daunting and frustrating task at times, but it can become a real panic situation if you have gaps in your work experience or lack qualifications. You may even have left a previous employment on bad terms. Having a blemish on your resume isn't any reason to feel you can't aim for another good job, and there are ways to spin your resume to make it (and you) look attractive to a potential employer.

How To Write A Resume Cover Letter That Will Get Your Resume Read
A Resume Cover Letter has only one purpose - to stimulate the recipient of your resume to review your resume. This free resume cover letter tutorial assumes that you will be sending your resume and resume cover letter by email.

Resume Writing and Preparation is Free Online
Creating a strong resume is a very important part of applying for a job, either online or off line. There are many resume writing services that will help you build an impressive resume for job interviews.

Resume Outline - Add Structure & Flow to Your Resume
Building your resume, based on a resume outline will give it structure and flow..

Create Free Printable Resume - Things to Check if You Want to Create Free Printable Resume
Let?s admit it, not everyone has the skill, talent, or gift of resume writing An outstanding candidate for a job can be very useful to a company unless they get that impression first through his resume

Blank Resume Form Free ? Create Resumes Easily by Using Blank Resume Forms
Are you a graduate fresh out of school and a neophyte job seeker Don't know just where or how to get started in writing that killer resume that will land you your dream job

MilitaryResumes.com Resume Writers for Military Resumes and Federal Resumes Announces Relaunched Web Site
Users seeking civilian resumes for former-military job seekers will find new functionality and a streamlined buying experience.

Common Resume Mistakes - Results from the Palladian International 2008 Resume Benchmarking Survey
After conducting an extensive benchmarking survey of resumes, Palladian International identified several trends, including common mistakes most job seekers make.

President of Shimmering Resumes Offers Executive Resume to Hillary Clinton
President of Shimmering Resumes Volunteers to Write Executive resume for Hillary Clinton, to Help her Gain Nomination, or a Job in an Obama Administration

Facelift for Resumes Offers Hope for Job Seekers, says Resume Writing Service
Professional Pixie Dust from Resume Writing Service Can Help You Land a Job

Resume Expert Launches New Online Resource and Resume Building Tools for Job Seekers
Resume and job search industry veteran, Carl Bascom, has launched a new resume writing and job search resource website at http://www.resumewinners.com Resume resources include a resume workbook series called the "You're Hired" Series.